Tuesday, September 6, 2016

iPhone 7 rumor surfaces about recording video at 4K resolution at 60 FPS; a first for any smartphone


A poster on a Vietnamese Apple website is claiming to have used a working iPhone 7 unit, ahead of the device’s official unveiling on Wednesday at Apple’s press media event. The writer shares his experience handling Apple’s iPhone 7 (not the Plus model) and most of what he says mirrors previous reports. Apply some skepticism here though: there are no photos for evidence.

There are few new alleged tidbits amongst the usual discussion of an iPhone 6s-esque design. One standout claim is that the iPhone 7 can record 4K video at 60 frames per second. This is up from 4k @ 30 fps on the current iPhone 6s and is a significant upgrade as no phone on the market today can do this. This has great longer term importance as you can record video now in a format that will be seen as standard most TV's and computer monitors in 5 to 10 years. 

This report is regarding the 4.7 inch iPhone 7 so it’s not even a case of the 60 FPS 4K feature being part of the dual camera system. It will apparently be available to all iPhone 7 owners and may explain why Apple decided to double the storage to 128 GB and 256 GB on the higher-capacity iPhone 7 models. 4K video on the iPhone uses a lot of space already and 60 FPS doubles the number of frames the system needs to save, ballooning file sizes even more.

The report ‘confirms’ the existence of a new dark iPhone color: the matte replacement for Space Grey. The writer says the Apple logo on the back of the phone is also matte for this finish, but the Silver iPhone 7 will still have a shiny logo. The site also says the volume buttons have changed design and are no longer contained in a concave inset, they are just placed on the outer body directly.


For waterproofness, the tipster says the machine features a SIM tray with a new rubber seal. The obvious answer to the inclusion of this element is to attain the waterproofing standard: we have previously heard that the iPhone 7 will be rated IPX7 — the same as the Apple Watch. Note we have seen supposed iPhone 7 SIM trays before (pictured above) which was the first source to cite two new case colors in the wings.

They also claim to have hands-on time with the new touch-sensitive Home Button, claiming that although it is capacitive the force required to activate the button is still substantial.


Rather than how Android phones respond to light presses on their software keys, Apple is using Force Touch technology to force users to press firmly in order to activate the new Home Button. Just like other Force Touch devices Apple ships, there are no moving parts. There is slight haptic feedback to give the illusion that the user is actually touching a physical thing, just like the Force Touch trackpad.

Due to the lack of images, it’s hard to say whether to trust this source but most of the piece does corroborate what we’ve been hearing elsewhere. The new tidbits are very specific and detailed too, which it gives it some believability. There isn’t much incentive for a site to randomly make up the existence of a rubber seal on the Home Button for instance.

Still, treat it with some skepticism ahead of Apple’s official unveiling of the new iPhone 7 on Wednesday.

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